Hundred Questions - The Shirt of Yusuf (may peace be through him)
The Shirt of Yusuf (may peace be through him)
Q88 Please tell us some useful points regarding Hazrat-i Yusuf's (May peace be through him) shirt. What was it? Was it really a physical shirt or was it a garment of Paradise?
A88 It should be known that Hazrat-i Yusuf (May peace be through him) was an Imam-i mustawda` in his time. As is clear from the Qur'anic story, Hazrat-i Yusuf (May peace be through him), as a child, dreamt that the eleven stars, the sun and the moon were prostrating before him. The ta'wil of this dream is that he was to receive the status of Imamat soon and before the expected time, i.e. in the very lifetime of his esteemed father. For the prostration of the eleven stars means that among the twelve hujjats, one was himself, therefore the remaining eleven obeyed him, that is, he excelled all of them in rank. The prostration of the sun means that the previous Imam, giving the light of Imamat to his son, accepted his (son's) authority and finally the prostration of the moon means that the bab (gate) or hujjat-i a`zam (the supreme hujjat) followed him. This is the ta'wil related to the prostration of the eleven stars, the sun and the moon to Hazrat-i Yusuf (May peace be through him).
It should be remembered that the shirt of Yusuf means the subtle body (jism-i latif). We have mentioned the subtle body everywhere in our writings. The subtle body, in fact, belongs only to the Imam of the time. It is the centre of all physical and spiritual miracles. It consists of innumerable small luminous atoms or particles, each of which is a living and speaking soul. This miraculous shirt, if it wants, can appear in the form of the Perfect Man, otherwise it mostly remains scattered in the form of atoms.
The subtle body has many names and one of them is juththah-yi ibda`iyyah. Juththah means body and ibda` means an instantaneous creation, which does not take any time as in temporal creation (takhliq), for it is the place of "kun fa-yakun" ("Be! and it is"). Ibda` takes place only by amr (command). Thus, the subtle body is the ibda`i body full of every kind of miraculous capability, i.e. it is full of the capacities for all kinds of miracles.
From the language of Qur'anic wisdom it is evident that Hazrat-i Ya`qub (May peace be through him) used to weep for a long time for the luminous didar of the Imam of the time, and thereby his eyes had turned white. The ta'wil of this is that for a long time there was only white light without didar. But when the shirt of Hazrat-i Yusuf (May peace be through him) was laid upon his face he regained his sight. The ta'wil of this is that when the luminous or subtle body of the Imam of the time appeared before him, he did his didar.
If we take this story and the tradition for granted without this ta'wili wisdom, it would mean that (God forbid) even the Prophets and Imams, like ordinary people, lose their eyesight weeping for the physical separation of their children. If this is true, how can it be possible for them to guide and lead human beings. This shows that the real fact is hidden in the ta'wil, which we have explained above.
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